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Monthly Archives: December 2009

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When I worked in the ER- Downtown ORlando- We saw WAY to many people come in with out any ID on them. The one that I most remember was a young 20something year old male (20-22) that was in a motorcycle accident. No helmet. No ID that we were able to find immediatly. As a registration person for the ER/Trauma center we were responsible for looking for Id’s when a patient comes in that is unable to talk to us… The only thing the man had was his cell phone…that kept ringing, and ringing, and ringing. He died before we ever found out what his name was. The Chaplain handles phone calls like this… the chaplain answered the man phone and told who was calling that she needed to contact the patients parents and have them call our chaplain.

I NEVER want my family to have to go through that! I was there when the coroner came and wheeled the body bag to the medical examiner. I don’t want to die on a table a nameless person.

My point for this blog is that as a runner there are ways we can protect our selves from becoming a nameless body, or a nameless patient in a ER somewhere.

While I mostly run on sidewalks, or a track around the local college i can still get hit by a car. We all know that people do not pay attention when they drive. There is nothing stopping someone from driving up on the sidewalk that I am running on.

I am not a morbid person and I hate talking, or even thinking about death. I refuse to talk about it with Chris. I just can’t stand the thought. But let’s be real, it’s always a possiblity.

RoadID is a perfect way to save ourselves from being a nameless somebody. I am entereing a give-away for a RoadID. If you are a runner/cyclist/walker….etc. You could also enter to win a RoadID.

1. Saute onion and garlic in oil in sauce pan (i didn’t have fresh garlic, but I did have minced garlic in the fridge so i just used some of that, it turned out fine)

2. Puree or mash contents of one can of black beans (i put the beans in my food processor and mashed them till they were in liquid form)

3. Combine all ingredients expect sour cream in slow cooker.

4. Cover. Cook on Low 6-8 hrs.

5. Add dollop of sour cream to each individual bowl before serving.

This turned out to be a really easy and yummy soup. I added light red kidney beans (drained) as well to this soup, just one can. Next time I plan on adding some turkey sausage. I think it needed some more meat.

I went running yesterday when I got off work at 5. I started out at Lake Silver in Winter Haven and then ran down First Street. I ran down first street to Ave K, hung a right on Ave K and ran back up 6th street towards downtown. I ran the trail through downtown back to my car. When I was passing the bus station a guy on a bike started to ride next to me. Normally this would scare me, it was dark, and i was by myself. Instead I embraced the opportunity and started a conversation with the guy. Starting with the weather, and how it was perfect for a run, not to hot, not to cold once you got moving. He said he rides his bike 15-20 miles a day (i’m going to guess that he is homeless, and stays in a shelter at night somewhere). He told me he used to be in the Marines and he used to run but old age got to him- he wasn’t really *that* old. It was pretty neat. — I am not the type of person that will strike up a conversation with someone I do not know. It is an awkward experience, what do you say? The quiet when the conversation runs out is just awkward, it’s just not something I do.

“Let me win, but if I cannot win let me be brave in the attempt”- Special Olympics Oath

I don’t know why but the Special Olympics Oath really reaches out to me, and I really like it. Today I did a Santa Sprint 5k that was put on by a local running store and the Special Olympics of our county. It was really neat.

They did the Pledge of Allegiance before the race started. I haven’t said the Pledge since highschool, 6yrs ago, and even then I didn’t “appreciate” the words of the Pledge of Allegiance. I got kinda teary as we were saying it. I mean, think of all our military men & women who serve to keep our country free, so that we can fly our flag, and have our Nation UNDER GOD. I think the Pledge is important. I appreciate it.

On to the race. A cold front came through last night so it was pretty chilly this morning, 44 when I got up. Yes, I know, that is not cold if you are reading this and you are from anywhere north of Florida. I know some of you raced in snow today, or couldn’t race because of the snow… I originally wore shorts & a long sleeve shirt but it was to cold for shorts. I went to the kohls next door to the running store and bought some Fila tights…not the best, but they got the job done.

I’ve been battling a cough for about 2 wks so I wasn’t sure how I would run. I only ran twice last week, 3 miles one day, and 1 mile another day. I ran a pretty steady pace. The whole entire race i was looking ahead at all the women ahead of me thinking “how many of them are in my age group?” “Who do I need to get ahead of”.. apparently i’m much more competitive then I thought. At mile 2 a girl started to run by me, and she looked my age, so this really got my competitiveness flowing.. I sped up but then leveled back out. I finished in 25:40, which is a little faster then my previous 5k which was 26:30.

I plan to start upping my mileage and hopefully run a 10k in February.

Today was day 3. Some of the stuff is getting easier, but other aspects are not. I HATE the 1 minute ab workouts. I just feel so stupid doing them. I don’t feel like i’m doing them right at all. I think i’m going to find another AB work out and not worry so much about the 30DS Abs. Other then that I really like the work outs. I sweat hardcore…..that makes me feel like i’m actually accomplishing something.

I have my 3rd 5k on Saturday. I don’t feel like i’m going to do that well. I haven’t been running as much as I could. Wednesday I only ran 1 mile bc i had this side pain that wouldn’t give, and i thought it was going to rain. I was in downtown Winter Haven and I really don’t love running in the rain… i didnt want to get stranded so I guess I gave up. stupid.

Last week I discovered that BrightHouse has exercise on-demand. I’ve been wanting to add something new to my excercising. Running is great, but I want more. So i decided to try out some work outs.

The first one I tried way weird. It was called back.2.bollywood. It was an Indian Lady and you did some Indian dance moves, it was fun, but not my cup of tea. I was sweating, but I didn’t feel like I got to much out of.

So the next day I did Biggest Loser Cardio Max- OMG. I didn’t stretch before or after- bad, bad, bad idea. I was so sore for the next 3 days I could literally barely move. I was also coming down with a sore throat and a cough, throw it all together and i was extremely miserable. Nothing helped my muscles. I took muscle relaxers, IBuprofen, and soaked in an epsom salt filled bath, nothing helped. I just had to let my muscles do their thing.

So this Sunday (Dec 13th), I decided to start Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. I’ve read alot about it on a Health & Fitness board that I frequent. I googled results, and saw some good results. I don’t want to necessarily lose alot of weight, but I want to gain strength and tone.

The workouts are based on 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 minute of ABS. She goes through the cycle 3 times, and thats the entire workout. There are 3 different levels. From what i’ve read, you do each level for 10 days, and then move to the next level- hence the “30” day shred.

Tuesday I did a 3.13 mile run, and today, Wednesday, I did the 2nd day of 30 Day Shred. Tomorrow i’ll be out after work getting in another 3 miles.

I have my 3rd 5k this weekend in Lakeland. The Santa Sprint 5k. Hoping to PR, but 26:30 is a pretty good time, i’m not sure if I can beat that.